Improvement in refrigerators



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. LEWIS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO JOHN K. LEWIS,

OF SAME PLAGE.

IMPROVEMENT IN REFRIGERATORS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 139,168, dated May 20, 1873; application filed April 28, 1873.

To all whom t may concern.-

Beit known that I, WILLIAM H. LEWIS, of the city and State of' New York, have invented an Improvement in Refrigerators, of which the following 1s a specification:

Refrigerators are usually made with two cases, one inside the other, and a filling of' non-conducting material. This is important to prevent the contents ofl the refrigerator being exposed to heat in summer, and to retain the cold atmosphere produced by the action of the ice in the refrigerator.

In winter these refrigerators are useless, or nearly so, as they are not adapted to retain meats and other viands; hence refrigerators are generally used but a portion of' the year, greatly to the inconvenience of persons living in small houses or portions of houses.

My invention is made for the purpose of' adapting refrigerators to use as meat-safes, or for containing other articles of f'ood during winter or cool weather, when ice is not required. I make use of a frame containing wire gauze, forming a door for the refrigerator when ice is not required, and a closed door of the ordinary kind for use when the refrigera- 'tor contains ice, and these are easily changeable so as to use either one, as occasion demands.

1n the drawing, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a refrigerator fitted with my improvement, and Fig. 2 represents in section the double door and the frame and wire gauze detached.

The top a, bottom b, back c, and sides d of the refrigerator may be of any desired character, and the ice-receptacle e may be located at top, bottom, or end. The ordinary door f,

made by preference of two thicknesses, and packed with non-conducting material, fills the opening in the refrigerator in the usual mana ner. The f' me g, with wire netting or gauze h, is of' a si e to t into the opening of' the refrigerator and form the door for. the same when the door f is not employed. Thesedoors are to be provided with suitable hinges, and the frame or door g Lh is employed when ice is not used, so that the benefits of' ventilation are obtained in the refrigerator the same as in a meat-safe, and flies and vermin are ex eluded. The door f is preferably removable from the frame g, so that said frame g may always remain iu place, and the door f be attached thereto by screws z'. 'I have shown these screws t' as within the plates l, fastened to the frame g, and held in place by necks, so as not to be liable to become detached, and the tubular projecting nuts o upon the door f pass into the space around the screws and receive such screws; thereby the screws i do not require to project at the inner side of the frame g, and are not liable to catch inthe clothing of a person in removing articles from or placing them in the safe or refrigerator. y

I claim as my invention l The frame g and gauze h, applied to fand combined with a refrigerator and the ordinary door f thereof, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. y

Signed by me this 24th day of April, 1873. W. HL LEWIS. Witnesses:

GEO. T. PINGKNEY, OHAs. H. SMITH. 

